By the CNN Wire Staffupdated 10:35 PM EST, Wed January 11, 2012
Tunisians celebrate their revolution one year on
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisians Saturday marked the first anniversary of the revolution that started the "Arab Spring" with
celebrations that were true to the spirit of the revolt: raucous, unscripted, and driven by the energy of ordinary people.
Thousands of people flooded into Bourguiba Avenue in the center of the capital, the same spot where demonstrators massed exactly one year ago, forcing autocratic leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to accept his rule was over and flee the country.
Since that moment,
Tunisia has become a model for democratic change in the Middle East and its revolt has re-shaped the political landscape of the region. It inspired revolutions in Egypt and Libya, as well as uprisings in Syria and Yemen whose outcome is still in the balance.
In a nod to the "people power" origins of Tunisia's revolution, the country's new authorities did not try to stage-manage the public celebrations.
Instead they invited people to descend on the center of the capital to mark the day in their own way.
Some people marched down Bourguiba Avenue chanting "Tunisia is Free!" and "Bye bye dictatorship. Welcome freedom!" Others carried Tunisian flags, and cages with their doors swinging open, an allegory for the country's journey to freedom.
"This is an occasion when all Tunisians should celebrate with pride," said Samir Ben Omrane, who was in the center of Tunis with his wife and two daughters. His wife was carrying a birthday cake with a single candle on the top.
"I am happy that my children can live in freedom in this country, which has provided an example to the world," he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that a year ago the world was inspired by Tunisia's demands for democracy, freedom and dignity.
"Their courage echoed throughout the region, where other peoples, encouraged by the actions of their Tunisian brothers and sisters, found the courage to also make their rightful aspirations heard," he said in a statement.
COMPETING VOICES
The celebrations in Tunisia were in stark contrast to the tightly-regimented and starchy public occasions held during Ben Ali's 23-year-rule over Tunisia, when dissent was punished with long jail terms, torture or forced exile.
The new Tunisia is a cacophony of different groups, each demanding to be heard.
For all its progress toward democracy, Tunisia has acute problems of poverty and unemployment and its society is split over the rise to power of Islamists who were banned from public life for years under Ben Ali.
One group of young people gathered in front of the Interior Ministry headquarters to press for deeper reforms.
"It's true that Ben Ali is not here any more," said one of the group, 25-year-old Walid Ben Salam. "But we still have to be careful and to protect this revolution ... What we are missing is a separation of religion from politics," he said.
"We need to pay homage to the martyrs of the revolution and not forget the thousands of unemployed people."
Elsewhere, several dozen relatives of people killed by security forces in the run-up to the revolution protested outside the Saudi Arabian embassy.
They were demanding the extradition of Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, who have been in Saudi Arabia since fleeing there a year ago.
Moncef Marzouki, a political prisoner under Ben Ali who is now the country's president, declared Saturday a national holiday. He marked the event by granting pardons to 9,000 prisoners and commuting 122 death sentences.
In the official part of the celebrations later Saturday, Marzouki will take part in a ceremony attended by visiting officials including the heads of state from Qatar, Libya and Algeria.
(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Ben Harding)
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Today is
Tunis, Where The Arab Spring Began
It started a year ago, when a man set himself on fire, in a show of frustration, because a female representative of the government, forced him to stop selling fruit in the market square.
The Man's dignity was being degraded by his government, and he felt that the government, was taking away his dignity by taking away his ability to earn money for his wife and children, thus, he set himself on fire. Shortly there after, the citizens marched, and they demanded that their ruler leave their country, and the rest is history.
In this one life that we all live, there comes a time when one man has to take a stand. Human Dignity is every human being's "Right" and no government, or no group of people, have the right to deny any human being..., the right to earn a living.
Egypt and Libya have followed the path of Tunis, and at this very moment, Syria is on course to be the next Arab/Muslim country to remove their long time leaders, and welcome democracy.
A Sign of the future:
An American Report was on the streets of Syria two days ago, and during his report, a Syrian citizen was telling the reporter in english, how Assad's government has been killing and beating the citizens, and the man went on to say to the American Report, "I want to be free, I want to be like you, I want to be free, I want to be free like you, we want democracy".
What I found so interesting about that man's rants...., he was speaking to the reporter, with clear recognition of his American Status, and with knowledge of this man's history of living under a Arab government, this man was saying that he wanted the very thing that make the U.S. the country that it is... A Democracy, A Life of our own choosing.
Democracy has been unleashed on the entire Arab world, and the U.S. has no idea how it happened,but I do. The Future of the Arab world will never be what it was last year, nor will it be what it was for the past centuries, because the heart of the Arab world has changed.
We must realize that, and look into our own mirrors here in the U.S....
We Are The Example, and it's time for us all to recognize that our actions are being observed as examples for a people that "is choosing our life style".
We must be the example now..., after more than a half of a century of trying to spread democracy, it's finally taking place, without the direct help of any effort on our part.
The Arab People saw the United States of America elect a "Black Man" as it's leader, which signified to all the world that, in this country, anyone can become President, and it's not just something that we all just say.
Leadership Is By Example
In My Opinion
ASMFMB
1/14/12
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